The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed Pakistan State Oil (PSO) to end recruitment of employees via third-party contractors and make all future recruitments directly in the company. The PAC meeting held here under the chairmanship of Syed Khursheed Shah to discuss and review audit paras of the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) for the year 2016-17 and look into the matters of third-party recruitments in the national oil supplying company. Officials of the Auditor General Pakistan (AGP) while briefing the panel said that PSO in violation of Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules recruited employees through third-party which caused Rs 422.8 million financial losses to the national kitty.
The committee members expressed dissatisfaction over the non-completion of inquiry report on the subject.
Briefing the panel, Managing Director (MD) PSO Sheikh Imran-ul-Haq said that 210 employees were made permanent on the orders of the Supreme Court, while 700 employees are yet to be made permanent. The committee took serious notice against the PSO for extending contract for continuous 13-year in violations of PPRA rules to M/s Human Resource services for hiring human resource.
The MD PSO while responding to the objection said that the company has been implementing PPRA rules since 2010 and at present no appointment is made against the set rules and regulations.
Member Committee Sardar Ashiq Hussian Gopang said that the PSO should have started implementing PPRA rules in 2004 to avert any controversy. The committee was informed by the officials that the contract with the company was for three years, but in a violation of the PPRA rules, it was extending for 13 years to the same company.
Audit officials told the committee that the contract to M/s Human Resource services for hiring human resource was awarded in 2001 for three years contract, but the company still continues its services. Audit officials told the committee that despite the expiry of the contract, the PPRA rules were violated as no advertisement was published in the media for awarding the contract which is a violation of the PPRA rules. The PSO officials said when the process of awarding the contract was started, the employees approached the court and got a stay order. The PAC chairman said the courts did not give decision against the rules and violations, and if the court gave any decision then the Supreme Court could be approached.
Audit officials told the committee that there was information that the private company took Rs 200,000 from the job seekers for the employment. "But we did not have any documentary evidence of it," the audit officials told the committee. But PSO officials challenged the comments of the audit officials and said these allegations are being levelled without any solid evidence.
The audit officials told the committee that the FIA is also investigating the matter of extending contract to the company. However, when the committee asked from the FIA representatives about the status of the case, he did not give any satisfactory reply.
But the FIA representative revealed that the FIA was investigating another case against PSO MD Sheikh Imranul Haq and deputy MD for appointment of three officials in violation of the rules.
Sardar Ashiq Gopang said that such violations should not be allowed and cases must be referred to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for investigation. But PAC Chairman Syed Khursheed Shah said the FIA is already working on the case and directed the FIA to submit the report to the committee in its next week meeting.
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